For
the first-time since 2001 when the Goodwill Games were staged in
Brisbane, Australia will stage a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour as Adelaide will
host the world’s best Beach Volleyball players for the first event of
the 2008 calendar on world famous Glenelg Beach.

The 2008
Adelaide Australia Open will feature men’s and women’s competition starting
with country quota matches March 25 and ending March 30 with the finals
where the final two teams in both genders will be competing for the gold
medal purse and qualifying points for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The last time an
international Beach Volleyball event was staged in Australia, Brazilians
captured the gold medal at the Goodwill Games, including Ricardo Santos,
the SWATCH most outstanding player on the 2007 tour. Ricardo teamed
with Jose Loiola to win the Goodwill Games gold medal in September 2001
after Tatiana Minello and Sandra Pires claimed the women’s title for the
South American country.

As South
Australia's seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the
site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are
concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of
North Terrace,
King William
Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area.
Named in honor of
Queen Adelaide,
the
consort
of
King William IV,
Adelaide
was founded in 1836 as the
planned capital
for the only freely-settled British
province
in Australia.

Famous for it's
historic past, as well as an array of shopping and dining experiences,
Glenelg Beach is linked to the heart of Adelaide by a historic tram from
the seaside town with the heart of Adelaide, which is the home of
the Australian Institute of Sport Beach Volleyball program'.

The most popular
and easily accessible of the city’s beaches, Glenelg Beach is
immediately south of West Beach, and 11km southwest of the city. The
30-minute tram ride here from Victoria Square is part of the
experience. The tram has its original fittings for 1929 with red
leather seats and leather hanging straps and wood-paneled compartments.

Glenelg Beach was
the site of the landing of Governor John Hindmarsh and the first
colonists on Holdfast Bay he read the proclamation at the Old Gum Tree
establishing the government of the colony. Nowadays, Glenelg Beach is
busy year-round. Jetty Road is crowded with
places to eat and shop. The tram terminates at Moseley Square where the town
hall and clock tower resides. On the opposite corner, the original
Victorian Pier Hotel is now part of the imposing seafront Stamford Grand
Hotel. It is crowded on the weekends make Glenelg a vibrant place to
be.

Australia’s efforts
will be led by the teams of Andrew Schacht/Joshua Slack and Tamsin
Barnett/Natalie Cook. Both tandems are the top-ranked Aussie teams from
the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour where Schacht and Slack captured the
bronze medal at the world championships while Barnett and Cook won an
international gold medal in Seoul, Korea.

Cook and Kerri
Pottharst formed the Australian “Gold Girls” as the pair won the Sydney
2000 Olympic Games by upsetting two-time SWATCH-FIVB World champions
Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede in the finals on Bondi Beach to give
Aussies only their third international Beach Volleyball medal. While
the 33-year Cook is seeking her fourth Olympic trip, Pottharst has
retired to coaching while being a “Mum”.

Adelaide was the
site of the Australian Grand Prix on the Formula One circuit (1985-1995)
before the international car race move to Melbourne. Since then,
Adelaide has been staging the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race event on a
modified version of the same Formula One street circuit.

Adelaide has hosted
the annual Tour Down Under bicycle race since 1999 and the Bay to
Birdwood run featuring vintage and veteran cars from around the world.
Glenelg Beach has been hosting domestic Beach Volleyball events since
2001.

PAST MEN’S
PODIUM PLACEMENTS - Australia

Medals - Brazil
6, USA 4, Argentina 1, Germany 1

Site

Year

Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

1.Sydney

1991

Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos,
USA

Andre Lima/Guilherme Marques,
BRA

Roberto Lopes/Franco Neto,
BRA

2.Sydney

1992

Smith/Stoklos, USA

Andre/Guilherme, BRA

Roberto Lopes/Franco, BRA

3.Sydney (Olympics)

2000

Dain Blanton/Eric Fonoimoana,
USA

ZeMarco de Melo/Ricardo
Santos, BRA

Jorg Ahmann/Axel Hager, GER

4.Brisbane (GWG)

2001

Jose Loiola/Ricardo Santos,
BRA

Mariano Baracetti/Martin
Conde, ARG

Stein Metzger/Kevin Wong, USA

PAST WOMEN’S
PODIUM PLACEMENTS - Australia

Medals - Brazil
7, USA 3, Australia 1, Germany 1

Site

Year

Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

1.Brisbane

1995

Holly McPeak/Nancy Reno, USA

Sandra Pires/Jackie Silva,
BRA

Beate Buhler/Danja Musch, GER

2.Melbourne

1997

Sandra/Jackie, BRA

Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar,
BRA

Lisa Arce/Holly McPeak, USA

3.Sydney (Olympics)

2000

Natalie Cook/Kerri Pottharst,
AUS

Shelda/Adriana, BRA

Sandra/Adriana Samuel, BRA

4.Brisbane (GWG)

2001

Tatiana Minello/Sandra, BRA

Shelda/Adriana, BRA

Barbra Fontana/Elaine Youngs,
USA

Asian men’s SWATCH
Stops
- The 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour men’s calendar features six stops
within the Asian Continental Federation with three events in China,
and one stop each Australia, Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates.
It is the most events in Asia since three stops where held in 1995
at Korea, Japan and Bali. Brazilian men’s team have captured 11 of
the gold medals with the United States 6, and one each for Spain,
Germany and the Netherlands.

Asian Women’s
SWATCH Stops
- The 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour women’s calendar features seven
stops within the Asian Continental Federation with three events in
China, and one stop each Australia, Korea, Japan and
Thailand. It is the most events in Asia since five stops where held
in 2001 at Macau, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Australia. The ABC’s
of women’s Beach Volleyball (America, Australia, Brazil and China)
have won 38 of the previous 39 events. The only title won by a
European team in Asia was at a 2003 in China where Rebekka Kadijk
and Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands captured the gold medal.